A reflection on: “AI-Generated Music — The ethical concerns for the music industry”
Originally posted on Medium.
A reflection on: “AI-Generated Music — The ethical concerns for the music industry”
Photo by Egor Komarov on Unsplash
This is a reflection on a 1/31/2023 articleAI-Generated Music — The ethical concerns for the music industry.
I decided to reflect on this blog post after hearing about the latest OpenAI–Juilliard collaboration, Spotify’s AI issues, and my brief conversation last month with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s conductor, Manfred Honeck. I’m an amateur music player and a classical music listener. I also have friends who are musicians active in both digital (game, film, etc.) and classical music. Perhaps that’s why I felt such eagerness to read and reflect on this topic.
The blog post was somewhat shallower than I expected, yet it touched on key questions currently shaping discussions in the music industry. My reflection focuses on connecting these questions to recent AI-music developments I’ve followed — particularly the OpenAI–Juilliard collaboration and Spotify’s ongoing AI experiments. Juilliard, one of the world’s most prestigious music schools, reportedly had some of its students help OpenAI develop “Juilliard-level” AI-generated compositions. Meanwhile, Spotify faces issues of copyright, content labeling, and the surge of AI-generated fake tracks.
Reflecting on these — and recalling my brief conversation with Maestro Honeck about the future of classical music — I believe people will continue to seek experience, authenticity, and uniqueness. That sense of story, community, and belonging is what makes Taylor Swift’s fandom so powerful and Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar theme so emotionally resonant — “The Human Touch,” as the article puts it. A similar debate once emerged when electronic music became possible. As someone who enjoys both acoustic instruments and DAWs, I still find that acoustic tones touch the soul more deeply. That’s why Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and many others endure centuries later, while most AI-generated music lacks ownership, identity, and character.
Studying music in 2025 feels like exploring an open question — it’s not as straightforward as studying computer science, in my opinion. As an architect by training, deeply engaged in creative processes, I’m fascinated by what “creativity” and “generation” truly mean (and I still question it, as do many who describe themselves as being in “creative” fields). Additionally, AI-generated music doesn’t necessarily mean fully AI-created; there’s growing room for musicians who use AI for partial creation and idea generation (as tools like Suno suggest with the “I am a musician” option). Yet, I remain convinced that as long as humanity exists, we’ll continue to crave authentic, one-of-a-kind experiences. Accordingly, I believe AI-generated music research will evolve in that direction, focusing more on enhancing the human feel and experience rather than merely replacing it.
Some useful links for further reading :